Conventional footwear typically has two primary portions, namely an upper and a sole. The upper provides a covering for the foot that receives and positions the foot with respect to the sole. The sole structure generally is secured to a lower portion of the upper member and generally is positioned between the foot and the ground. The sole may provide traction and cushioning. Accordingly, the upper and the sole operate cooperatively to provide a structure that is suited for a variety of ambulatory activities, such as walking. The production of such conventional footwear (from manufacturing through delivery to the end user) requires the expenditure of materials, energy, financial resources and also has an impact on the environment.
For example, the shipping of conventional footwear (e.g., from the manufacturing site to a vendor for sale) has an associated expense/cost and, also, has a potentially negative impact on the environment. Conventional footwear has an upper that extends upwards vertically from the sole to define a height and also a volume which occupies a predetermined amount of space. Further, in order to prevent damage to the footwear during shipping, conventional footwear is usually shipped in a shoebox which surrounds and protects the footwear, but occupies additional space. The volume of each article of footwear in its shoebox limits the total amount of footwear that can be transported in a finite amount of space (e.g. the trailer of a truck used for shipping the footwear). This spatial limitation requires more total loads of footwear to be shipped and, therefore, increases the cost of shipping. For example, costs associated with shipping the footwear, such as fuel for the shipping means (e.g., trucks) will be increased due to an increase in the amount of loads. Similarly, the spatial limitation will increase the potential negative impact on the environment because the increase in the number of loads will increase the amount of energy expended due to shipping. For example, the exhaust gases produced by the shipping means (e.g., trucks), can damage the environment (e.g., reducing air quality, damaging the ozone layer, etc.) and an increase in the amount of loads will increase the amount of damage to the environment. Hence, it would be desirable to reduce the amount of volume that an article of footwear occupies during shipping.
The manufacturing of conventional footwear also requires an expenditure of financial resources and energy. For example, conventional footwear may require orienting, assembling and securing different pieces or layers of material by different lines of intricate stitching. Such processes will have associated financial costs and energy expenditures. Further, the more complicated the conventional footwear and the more difficult the footwear is to assemble, the more financial resources and energy will have to be expended to manufacture the footwear. The energy expenditure associated with such manufacturing tasks can have a potentially negative environmental impact. For example, machinery may be used to perform the intricate assembly and stitching of the conventional footwear. The longer the machinery is operated (as it would be for more intricate and prolonged assembly), the greater amount of power the machinery will draw and, thereby, consume more environmental resources. Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the amount of energy required for manufacturing a particular footwear product and, thereby, reduce the financial costs and potentially negative environmental impact associated with the manufacturing of a particular footwear product.
Similarly, it is realized that the more material (e.g., pieces or layers of material) that is included in an article of footwear, the greater the expense of producing the article of footwear will be and also greater the potential negative environmental impact will be. For example, generally, incorporating more material into an article of footwear will require more assembly and manufacturing. As described above, the increasing the amount of manufacturing required for an article of footwear will resultantly increase both the financial cost and the potential negative impact on the environment associated with manufacturing of the article of footwear. Hence, it would be desirable to reduce the amount of material used in an article of footwear.
Therefore, as the cost of both energy and materials continue to rise, the financial incentive to limit their use as much as possible increases. Further, limiting the amount of both materials and energy used during the production of footwear (from manufacturing through delivery to the end user) has a beneficial effect on the environment. Therefore, it would be desirable to produce footwear which reduces the amount of materials and energy consumed during the manufacturing and shipping of such footwear. Such footwear can result in financial savings for the manufacturer and also reduces the potentially negative environmental impact associated with the manufacturing the footwear.